Jeff Mitchell: Not a smooth start for Castaneda

Dec. 19, 2012

Written by

Senior Writer

New Salinas District 1 Councilman Jose Castaneda certainly made an impression Tuesday. He was 15 minutes late to his own swearing-in ceremony at City Hall.

Normally, being late to meeting might not be a big deal.

But as this was his first official meeting, where he would be taking the oath of office, the timing of it all was kind of important.

Perhaps there was a good reason for his tardiness. We haven’t been told.

I’d hate to think this was some kind of act of political theater by the new freshman council member.

But possibly worse than being late is the fact that, as of Wednesday, the city said it had no proof that Castaneda had resigned from the board of the Alisal Union School District.

According to City Attorney Vanessa Vallarta, occupying two elected seats at the same time violates California law.

Oopsy.

Vallarta, in an email, said:

“I have informed Mr. Castaneda (and the City Council) of the potential risks of violating of the ‘incompatible offices’ doctrine, which is codified in California Government Code Section 1099. State law provides that a public officer (school board trustee/councilmembers are ‘officers’) shall not simultaneously hold two public offices that are incompatible when certain circumstances exist. One of these circumstances is where there is a possibility of a significant clash of duties or loyalties between the offices. When two public offices are incompatible, a public officer ‘shall be deemed to have forfeited the first office upon acceding to the second,’ (Government Code Section 1099(b),” she wrote.

I contacted Alisal Union Superintendent John Ramirez Jr. late Wednesday and he declined to say whether the district had yet received Castaneda’s resignation, repeating only that Castaneda “worked for the board.”

I then placed a call to Alisal board President Adella Lujan but could not reach her.

Finally, Castaneda’s voice mail box was full and not accepting messages.

I wish Mr. Castaneda the best as the new council member representing District 1.

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So far, though, I’d say he’s off to a bit of a troubled start.

Keeping our kids safe

So while pundits and others were flapping their gums on the national stage this week about the preposterous idea of arming our teachers in the hopes of stopping or preventing the next mass school shooting, I was thinking of how we might actually improve school safety right here in Salinas on — shall we say — a more practical basis.

Even if we had saner gun ownership laws — and we need them badly — there’s no guarantee that such a horrible tragedy won’t happen again somewhere.

But it could.

Back in 2009, the Salinas Police Department, faced with few good budgetary options, eliminated its school resource officer program from the force.

For those who might not be familiar, an SRO is a fully trained police officer assigned to a particular school campus. They serve at these schools to, yes, enforce the law but also to get to know and to mentor kids and to insure that teachers, staff and students remain safe.

They are armed, trained and ready to take action when the you-know-what hits the fan.

Now, admittedly, there’s no way of knowing whether an SRO assigned to Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut could have stopped the deadly actions of the young man who took so many innocent lives there.

Still, I am guessing that had an SRO been present, the death toll wouldn’t have been so horrible and heartbreakingly bad.

I spoke with Police Chief Kelly McMillin Wednesday about arming teachers and the role of SROs.

McMillin, who has been in involved in two fatal shootings of suspects during his career, ought to know what it takes to look down the barrel of a gun at someone and pull the trigger.

It takes extensive training, discipline and a “warrior” spirit to survive, he says.

“I can understand how the idea of arming teachers might appeal to some, but it’s not a good idea,” McMillin said. “It’s not a practical solution that will increase anyone’s safety.”

Restoring SROs to Salinas schools, however, would help, he said. McMillin says he just doesn’t have the money to do it.

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“It’s just my speculation, but had that school had an SRO on campus, there might have been a different, better outcome,” the chief said.

We know that the Salinas Police Department is hurting.

It needs more officers — a lot more.

But I think we’d all agree that our schools should be protected sanctuaries of learning and not battlegrounds where the deranged vent their wrath on the innocent.

It’s my hope that when we patch our police department back together, we’ll start by restoring SROs to our school campuses.

Thanks for your help!

The Californian’s Sprint to Holidays canned food drive is in high gear, so please keep on bringing those canned and non-perishable food items down to our lobby at 123 W. Alisal St.

Every donation is appreciated and will go toward Dorothy’s Place and to the Food Bank for Monterey County.

Questions? Please call Catherine Boswell at 831-754-4101.

• Jeff Mitchell covers Salinas City Hall and local politics. Send tips or story ideas by email to: jemitchell@theCalifornian.com; or by phone: 831-754-4281. He can be heard live on the air Fridays at 8:10 a.m. on KION 1460-AM and KION 101.1-FM. You also can follow Under the Dome on Twitter at twitter.com/CalUnderTheDome.